World News - Bush: I Won't Change Strategy in Iraq. What Strategy is he using? How to make more Enemies?

Bush conceded Friday that ``right now it's tough'' for American forces in Iraq, but the White House said he would not change U.S. strategy in the face of pre-election polls that show voters are upset. With Republicans anxious about the potential loss of Congress - and with conditions seemingly deteriorating in Iraq - Bush addressed the question of whether he would alter his policies. ``We are constantly adjusting our tactics so that we achieve the objective, and right now it's tough, it's tough,'' Bush said in an Associated Press interview. Bush met with Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, at the White House for a half-hour Friday afternoon. The White House said Abizaid already was in town and Bush asked him over. The president also will consult by video conference on Saturday with Abizaid at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., and with Gen. George Casey, who leads the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq, to determine if a change in tactics is ... http://www.guardian.co.uk

Iraq's prime minister has barred the Health Ministry from releasing alarming casualty figures that showed violence in Iraq was killing 100 civilians a day and provided a rare insight into the worsening sectarian conflict, according to an internal U.N. memo obtained Friday. The memo from top U.N. envoy for Iraq Ashraf Qazi to several senior U.N. officials said Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's office had twice instructed the ministry not to release the numbers to the United Nations and that his office would now be responsible for releasing any such information. The U.N. mission in Iraq had published the Health Ministry's numbers in its bimonthly reports about the human rights situation in Iraq. The figures were seen as one of the rare reliable indicators of the civilian suffering in Iraq — and U.N. officials even suspected they have underreported the actual number of civilian deaths. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/20/iraq/main2111951.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2111951

Thousands of health workers and students took to Panama's streets to collect bottles of cough syrup and lotions possibly contaminated with an industrial chemical as the death toll from the tainted medicine rose to 27 Friday. The deaths which began in July baffled authorities until last week, when U.S. health officials found traces of diethylene glycol, an industrial chemical related to antifreeze, in a red, sugarless cough syrup made by a government-run pharmaceutical factory. Panama sought assistance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after victims suffered mysterious kidney failure, paralysis and sagging of the facial muscles and other symptoms. Forty-three people remain hospitalized. The Health Ministry reported 27 deaths linked to the tainted medications. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2593347

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva widened his lead over rival Geraldo Alckmin to 24 points in a new poll released on Friday, which showed him set to win re-election in the run-off vote on October 29.A survey by Ibope polling firm released by TV Globo showed Lula would win 62 percent of the valid votes, compared with 57 percent in a poll released on October 12. Former Sao Paulo state Gov. Alckmin, a conservative favored by many business leaders, would win 38 percent of valid votes, down from 43 percent last week. The poll, carried out between Wednesday and Thursday, surveyed 3,010 voters and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points. Ibope's data confirmed the trend shown in two polls published earlier this week, with Lula accumulating advantage over Alckmin. He had a 20-point advantage in a Datafolha survey released on Tuesday and a 22-point lead in a Vox Populi poll that came out on Thursday. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2593255

A testy exchange between a Superior Court judge and a lawyer has netted the attorney two days in jail and the temporary loss of his law license. Judge Michael Helms also sentenced Raymond Marshall to submit to a psychologist's examination and to perform 70 hours of community service for the contempt of court violation. Marshall cannot practice law for 30 days, but his license may be returned sooner if he performs the community service, Helms said. An outburst in court by Marshall was the culmination of a dispute that began about a month ago, when one of Marshall's clients appeared before the judge on an assault charge the third time the case was brought to a trial. Helms and Marshall clashed several times during the legal process, and Marshall filed a motion Sept. 29 seeking Helms' removal from the case, accusing the judge of intimidation. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2593256

A man accused of having sex with the family dog has been charged under the state's new animal cruelty law, which makes bestiality a felony, a prosecutor said. Michael Patrick McPhail, 26, of nearby Spanaway, pleaded not guilty Thursday to one count of first-degree animal cruelty in Pierce County Superior Court. Assistant Pierce County Prosecutor Karen Watson said McPhail was the first person in Pierce County to be charged with the new bestiality offense. She said the dog was taken by animal control. McPhail posted $20,000 bail on Friday. Judge Katherine Stolz has set a trial date of Dec. 11. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2593252